When disaster strikes, search and rescue robots could save lives by finding and retrieving people buried under rubble. But designing robots that can descend rapidly through unstable and uneven rubble…
Blackouts remind us what life was like before cheap, readily available electricity – but it’s time to think about the true price of our power.
Candle in the dark image from www.shutterstock.com/Ronen
No lights, no power, no internet – and no easy solutions.
Fumbling around in a middle of a blackout, hoping to find a torch or some spare batteries, I was struck by just how utterly dependent most of…
Natural disasters don’t just leave those affected rebuilding their lives but also struggling to find meaning behind the tragedy.
Facebook CFA Victoria/AAP
This summer another bout of floods, fires, and cyclones has struck, culminating most recently in out-of-control fires across Victoria in which at least one home was lost. When we see the loss of property…
If we are plucking people from their roofs, we’re not communicating about disasters properly.
AAP/AGL Action Rescue Helicopter
The floods in Queensland and Northern New South Wales and the extensive January bushfires which caused destruction across Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales confirm that we need to rethink how we plan…
Bushfire affected property at Sommers Bay in Tasmania, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. Residents of the worst-hit town Dunalley in the Tasmanian bushfires returned on Friday to see the full extent of the devastation.
AAP/David Beniuk
Radical circumstances (bushfires and natural disasters) flush out the mental illness in society. Whenever there’s a disaster, there’s a rush on hospital admissions for psychiatric problems. But on the…
There’s still much to learn about predicting the effect of hurricanes.
NOAA
The profound impact caused by the storm that began as Hurricane Sandy has turned the spotlight on many issues, including forecasts. In short: how well was Sandy forecast, and where do our forecasts need…
Scientists need to feel confident to speak out about the dangers of coming extreme weather.
Ramin Talai/EPA
Last week the global landscape of mitigating and managing disasters changed forever. We heard the news of six Italian scientists charged for manslaughter and jailed for six years each for failing to predict…
The earthquake at l'Aquila was a tragedy, but blaming experts and governments doesn’t help.
EPA/Grillo
The decision of an Italian Court to convict six scientists and one government official of manslaughter for the failure to predict the magnitude of a devastating earthquake in L’Aquila in central Italy…
Robert McClelland has a roadmap for a FEMA-like disaster management authority.
AAP Image/Raoul Wegat
Who comes to the rescue when there is a disaster? Who pays the bills?
It is well accepted doctrine that in Australia the primary responsibility for protecting life and property lies with the states and…
Who’s responsible for this? Better disaster law could answer that question.
AAP
On 28 March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its full report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).
The IPCC’s…
People tend to think about sentimental items they’d collect when evacuating, rather than useful ones, such as medicines.
Ralph Sanderson
Disasters and extreme weather events often affect populated areas and yet few people consider that they’d be required to act as a “first responder” in their community before, during or after such events…
We can’t tame the oceans, but modelling can help us better understand them.
Badruddeen
Last year will go on record as one of significant natural disasters both in Australia and overseas. Indeed, the flooding of the Brisbane River in January is still making news as the Queensland floods inquiry…
A memorial has been unveiled in flood-devastated Grantham as residents move to higher ground.
Today marks a year since flooding devastated south-east Queensland. Research has shown that some of the worst effects of the floods were due to poor land-use planning.
Since the floods, residents of the…
How does Queensland tourism recover after a cyclone and floods earlier this year?
AFP Photo/Paul Crcok
This year’s natural disasters have been an omnipresent and unwelcome theme impacting on tourism to Japan, New Zealand, Queensland and Thailand.
Long after the initial horror of a natural disaster, the…
2011’s Cyclone Yasi was one of the strongest.
dsleeter
By Yuri Kuleshov, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; David Jones, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Karl Braganza, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Tropical cyclones are one of the most destructive types of weather system on the planet. The obvious human interest in tropical cyclones is in their sheer power. Historically tropical cyclones have had…
Climate change will mean more natural disasters: let’s not be cynical about planning for them.
AAP
Much of the commentary surrounding the Prime Minister’s new-look cabinet has focused on the promotion of her loyal lieutenants, Bill Shorten and Mark Arbib, and Nicola Roxon’s elevation to the Attorney…
It’s first decade as a nation has been challenging, but the outlook for Timor-Leste is positive.
AAP/Mick Stone
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor) is one of the world’s newest post-conflict nations. Next year it celebrates ten years as an independent democratic state, after almost 30 years of Indonesian…
We don’t know which storms will turn into deadly tornadoes.
RAGardner4
Everyone loves a good storm. Rolling thunder, a spectacular light show and fat drops of rain that make the earth smell like summer. Although thunderstorms are far more belligerent than your average cloud…
Dr Bernado de Bernardinis told residents to go home and enjoy a glass of red. Now he’s in the dock.
AFP PHOTO/ TIZIANA FABI
This week, a committee of six scientists (including Dr Enzo Boschi, formerly president of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) and one government official, whose role was to advise…
Climate and weather are vital in planning energy generation.
AAP
Billions of energy-investment dollars are exposed to the vagaries of climate. Those billions include dollars committed to or planned for renewable energy generation in this country.
Now a new branch of…
A long-term threat of natural disaster is likely to increase rates of anxiety among young people.
AAP
In September 2010, BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers proposed Australia take action on climate change before the rest of the world to maintain its international economic competitiveness.
A report released…
